The Rs-50,000 AEP will facilitate the evacuation of Covid patients in a fully sealed patient transfer capsule. It will also aid during normal operations.

A picture of Indian Navy's Air Evacuation Pod developed in Kochi at the Southern Naval Command. | Photo: Twitter/@DefencePROKochi

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New Delhi: The Navy has indigenously designed and made an Air Evacuation Pod (AEP) for safe evacuation of Covid-19 patients from remote locations.

Designed by the Naval Aircraft Yard (Kochi) under the Southern Naval Command (SNC), the AEP will facilitate the evacuation of patients in a fully sealed patient transfer capsule, ensuring there is no risk for cross infection to pilots and evacuation team and the need to sanitise the aircraft post evacuation, a government statement said Monday.

Talking about the development, a senior Navy officer told ThePrint that the AEP will not only aid during the pandemic, but also in normal operations of ships where casevac (casualty evacuation) from sea is an integral part.

“Where every kg counts in the range and endurance of an helicopter, a lightweight evacuation part would mean evacuating patients from farther out at sea,” said the officer on condition of anonymity.

The evacuation pod was designed under the guidance of the principal medical officer of the naval air station at Kochi, INS Garuda in consultation with specialists from the naval hospital INHS Sanjivani and SNC headquarters, according to the statement.

Made of aluminum, nitrile rubber and perspex, the AEP costs Rs 50,000 per unit.

“The highlight of the pod is that it weighs only 32 kg and has incurred a manufacturing cost of ₹50000/- which is only 1% of cost of an imported equivalent item (Rs 59Lakhs),” said the statement.

It further added that trials of evacuating patients inside AEP were successfully completed on 8 April aboard Indian Navy’s Advance Light Helicopter (ALH) and Dornier aircraft at SNC.

So far, 12 AEPs are planned for distribution across Southern, Western, Eastern and Andaman and Nicobar Naval commands.